Perhaps the best attribute of the Mad River Expedition 176 is its lightweight construction, which makes you feel guilty about packing that extra Fosters oilcan. Its Kevlar base gives it a tensile strength five times stronger than steel, while a fiberglass/graphite weave, capped with a gel coat, makes it one of the most durable canoes per pound in the business. Combined with its sleek design, this made it the first canoe “dibbed” each morning.

Details
Smaller details are also spot-on, including a sliding, contoured cane bow seat, contoured portage yoke, tripping thwart, adjustable stern ash footbrace, and shaped ash carry handles. “The Bentley of our trip – a floating work of art,” said one tester. “My wife said paddling it made me look 10 years younger,” said another. “It’s very sexy.”

Performance
Add in the ability of this canoe to track, and flat out haul when you want to, and you’ve got an all-around performer. It effortlessly stayed out front of the group when scrambling for a late campsite before the kids melted down, and its comfort combined with its cruisiness, “Reminds me of my Lay-Z Boy back home,” according to one tester. But here’s its true street cred: At the take-out, it was the first canoe purchased by one of our testers.